As the end of a brilliant, trying season nears its end, the American Hockey League gave out the first of what should be several awards to young Oiler Justin Schultz. The "Eddie Shore" Award--named after the "Edmonton Express"--has never been given to a rookie defender before this season.

Schultz was outstanding in OKC, with 18 goals and 30 assists in just 34 games, topped off with a plus-8 rating. His performance in Edmonton after the lockout ended was very strong, but the long season and those 30 minute AHL games have taken their toll. Here's Schultz numbers by month:

January: 7, 3-2-5 +2

February: 12, 3-4-7 -6

March: 15, 0-4-4 -7

April: 8, 1-4-5 -6

Schultz is -15 since Valentine's Day and his game has become wildly inconsistent. As talented as this young man clearly is, the offseason can't come soon enough.

IS THERE A CONCERN?

Playing NHL defense when everything is right is hard enough, playing on an empty tank must be a very difficult thing to do. Schultz has played big minutes all year long (21:33 a night in Edmonton, my bet is much more in OKC) and has remained healthy and from this angle there's been a lot of try.

The learning curve, the longer season, playing on a team that is struggling too--it all adds up to a tough finish to an outstanding rookie season. All things considered, the future looks bright.

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

Looking back, perhaps Schultz TOI should have been monitored more closely when he was in the AHL, but that's quibbling. The coach played his best and surely Eddie Shore would have loved the big minutes from the rookie. And maybe that's what we should take away from this season--the Shore award is awarded to the AHL's best defenseman--full stop.

Justin Schultz showed he belongs in the NHL--and that at least part of this season was an education. No sin there, that's what rookie seasons are for, to learn on the job.

I think Justin Schultz is the best young defenseman to land in Edmonton in a long long time, and worthy of an award named after the original Edmonton Express, Eddie Shore.

High praise indeed.

Lowetide has been one of the Oilogosphere's shining lights for over a century. You can check him out here at OilersNation and at lowetide.ca. He is also the host of Lowdown with Lowetide weekday mornings 10-noon on TSN 1260.

It's such a rare phenomenon to see a young Oilers player get thrown to the wolves the way he has this season......

I think his minutes should have been tempered in the NHL, rather than in the AHL. If the Oilers would have had a competent top 4 on defense, they could have sheltered JSchultz. Playing against opposition dregs, along with top PP minutes would have suited him well; he is definitely burnt out at this point.

He is a fantastic young player who will only get better defensively. His positioning needs work and his ability to defend against the cycle is quite poor. However, a smart player like him can improve positioning rather quickly. In addition, his maturing physique should help him to engage physically along the boards, which will markedly improve his effectiveness.

Jonas Brodin, who is 3 years younger than Schultz, plays 23:08 per game and is +7 to Schultz's -17.

Justin Schultz is Jack Johnson.

Lots of PP production and a terrible adventure at evens.

This is a troll attempt. You are not looking at the entire picture here.

One of, if not THE most crucial factors in performance, is WHO you play with.

From HockeyAnalysis:

Do not ignore Quality of Teammates

"I have just told you to pretty much ignore quality of competition and zone starts, what about quality of teammates? Well, to put it simply, do not ignore them. Quality of teammates matters and matters a lot. Sticking with the Vancouver Canucks, lets use Alex Burrows as an example. Burrows mostly plays with the Sedin twins but has played on Kesler’s line a bit too. Over the past 3 seasons he has played about 77.9% of his ice time with H. Sedin and about 12.3% of his ice time with Ryan Kesler and the reminder with Malhotra and others. Burrow’s offensive production is significantly better when playing with H. Sedin as 88.7% of his goals and 87.2% of his points came during the 77.9% ice time he played with H. Sedin. If Burrows played 100% of his ice time with H. Sedin and produced at the same rate he would have scored 6 (9.7%) more goals and 13 (11%) more 5v5 points over the past 3 seasons. This is far more significant than the 2.3% boost H. Sedin saw from all his offensive zone starts and I am not certain my Burrows example is the most extreme example in the NHL. How many more points would an average 3rd line get if they played mostly with H. Sedin instead of the average 3rd liner. Who you play with matters a lot. You can’t look at Tyler Bozak’s decent point totals and conclude he is a decent player without considering he plays a lot with Kessel and Lupul, two very good offensive players".

Brodin plays mostly with Ryan Suter, one of the best defensemen in the NHL. Justin Schultz played most of his minutes with Nick Schultz, then Ryan Whitney.

I won't even go into the fact that Minnesota plays a much better defensive system than the one implemented by RK.

I will go into the fact that Jack Johnson has never posted solid defensive or possession numbers. JSchultz on the other hand, just turned in a solid AHL season, and was a "plus" player in Wisconsin. This is the first real spanking he's ever taken in his own zone.

I will go into the fact that (unsurprisingly) you are using a very small sample size to judge JSchultz. Jack Johnson has an established track record to form a valid opinion on.

Jonas Brodin, who is 3 years younger than Schultz, plays 23:08 per game and is +7 to Schultz's -17.

Justin Schultz is Jack Johnson.

Lots of PP production and a terrible adventure at evens.

what a stupid comment. must be nice to be able to peg players so easily with such a small sample size. there's a reason everyone wanted this guy. the oilers have a lot of defensive deficiencies but this kid is a keeper and will only get better. if you love the wild so much why don't you spend your obvious surplus of free time hanging out on their sites? your constant need to regurgitate stats and rip on oiler players is ridiculous.

J Schultz looks lazy in his own zone, no one is going to deny that, but he is a rookie. This is what rookie seasons are for. How many players peak during their rookie seasons? Esp defensemen?

Brodin is a good D-man, playing with a very good D-man in a very structured, established system suited for D-men.

Also being tired isn't a lame excuse, from 40 games a season against college players to 78 games playing 20-25 minutes a night against professionals, it does take adjusting, look at Conacher, 18 points in his first 20 games, then 7 in the next 20. He played in 36 AHL games before the NHL season started.

"I have no reservations about saying Brodin will be a much better defenseman now and and in the future."

Is that like how you have no reservations in saying Florida and Minnesota are 2 of the best teams in the league? Or that Seguin is a country mile better than Hall? Or how (insert 75% of your predictions here)?

J Schultz looks lazy in his own zone, no one is going to deny that, but he is a rookie. This is what rookie seasons are for. How many players peak during their rookie seasons? Esp defensemen?

Brodin is a good D-man, playing with a very good D-man in a very structured, established system suited for D-men.

Also being tired isn't a lame excuse, from 40 games a season against college players to 78 games playing 20-25 minutes a night against professionals, it does take adjusting, look at Conacher, 18 points in his first 20 games, then 7 in the next 20. He played in 36 AHL games before the NHL season started.

Excellent point

The system is the main thing that separates the two, then style of play, add in quality of teammates.

I will take Schultz over Brodin at this point and I suspect that will be the case in a few years as well.

I think Schultz is coming along fine. Considering how bad the team is, how bad his partners are, and how ridiculous RK's systems are he has done well inspite of all of this. DSF maybe it's time you got a boy friend (or girlfriend) and stop being a D-bag. Get out of your basement, take off your rosé coloured glasses and stop harassing oiler fans. I personally would read ON more if you disappeared. But as for Shultz it is kinda hard to have great stats when the team around you has quit playing.

In 06-07 Bieksa at 25 years old was minus 11 in 34 games with the Canucks a lot better team than the 2013 Oilers, his combined +/- in 3 years at Bowling Green was -40,I would say he turned into a pretty good d-man. I know you do this crap just to get people riled up but don't you have something better to do? By the way an eagle is a glorified buzzard that lives on things that was killed by something else(perfect moniker)

J Schultz looks lazy in his own zone, no one is going to deny that, but he is a rookie. This is what rookie seasons are for. How many players peak during their rookie seasons? Esp defensemen?

Brodin is a good D-man, playing with a very good D-man in a very structured, established system suited for D-men.

Also being tired isn't a lame excuse, from 40 games a season against college players to 78 games playing 20-25 minutes a night against professionals, it does take adjusting, look at Conacher, 18 points in his first 20 games, then 7 in the next 20. He played in 36 AHL games before the NHL season started.

You know Brodin played in the AHL, is coming off a broken collarbone and plays more than 23 minutes a night, right?

In 06-07 Bieksa at 25 years old was minus 11 in 34 games with the Canucks a lot better team than the 2013 Oilers, his combined +/- in 3 years at Bowling Green was -40,I would say he turned into a pretty good d-man. I know you do this crap just to get people riled up but don't you have something better to do? By the way an eagle is a glorified buzzard that lives on things that was killed by something else(perfect moniker)

You've never seen an eagle fishing for salmon?

In his first full season in the NHL, Bieksa, scored 12 goals and 42 points and was plus 1.

Considering he was a 5th round pick, I would think he's done pretty well.

He spent a couple of years in the AHL learning how to play defense...sound familiar?

I think Brodin is a stud...Would love him on the Oilers. I also really like what I saw from JS, he makes me happy.

Comparing them is stupid. You would have to be blind to not be excited to have either one on your team. Knowing how good Crosby is doesn't make Hall any less good.

That being said, he's definitely not perfect. He may be Jack Johnson today, but I feel like with his hockey IQ and natural ability, his ceiling is Sergei Zubov who just happened to OWN the Oilers for a very long time.

I think Brodin is a stud...Would love him on the Oilers. I also really like what I saw from JS, he makes me happy.

Comparing them is stupid. You would have to be blind to not be excited to have either one on your team. Knowing how good Crosby is doesn't make Hall any less good.

That being said, he's definitely not perfect. He may be Jack Johnson today, but I feel like with his hockey IQ and natural ability, his ceiling is Sergei Zubov who just happened to OWN the Oilers for a very long time.

I see Drivel Spouting Fool is back to torment the Oil faithful. Once in a while,he does make sense. But his meager credibilty goes out the window here. All he would have to say is Congrats for Justin, but nope. Defying Sanity Forever, is truly a first class, classless moron.

Yes once in a while they grab a live fish,
Justin Schultz will be just fine, he has played too many minutes in tough situations and twice as many games as he ever has played, he also didn't get much practice time and this system seems to be quite flawed.

That's some awesome cherry pick there from a Brodin comparison to Karlsson - WOW that was whopper even for you.

Why stop there . . . .heck there was a 22 year old who was +124 and had 139 pts his name was Bobby Orr - Schulz Jr. should switch sports I guess . . .

What a DA.

I recall Lowetide comparing Schultz to Bobby Orr...I laughed.

But not as hard as when he compared Sam Gagner to Doug Gilmour...I peed myself...and it wasn't planned.

It really is time that Oiler fans took a step back and took a close look at what they actually have before thinking they can trade their chaff for actual NHL players.

Schultz is a decent offensive defenseman who doesn't have a clue in his own end.

Anyone who can't see that isn't paying attention.

Winning an AHL award is great and all but bear in mind that Jason Krog was an absolute AHL stud and there are numerous other examples of players who could excel at that level but failed when the rubber hit the road.

Schultz may well figure things out but until, or if, he does, he's a smaller, weaker Jack Johnson.

I think Brodin is a stud...Would love him on the Oilers. I also really like what I saw from JS, he makes me happy.

Comparing them is stupid. You would have to be blind to not be excited to have either one on your team. Knowing how good Crosby is doesn't make Hall any less good.

That being said, he's definitely not perfect. He may be Jack Johnson today, but I feel like with his hockey IQ and natural ability, his ceiling is Sergei Zubov who just happened to OWN the Oilers for a very long time.

You realize there is also an even chance that he has the hockey IQ of Cam Barker, right?

The reality is Schulz has real talent - offensive instincts that are amazing, good hands but he is still a rookie. He needs to be paired with a good stay at home dman and a team in a 5 on 5 system that is better than what we have shown. This Zone-Pressure-Gapping system is crap!

We are lucky to have signed him especially when many other more well positioned clubs wanted him - including his own Draft club.

Is he tired? Physically? Probably not - but mentally fatigued from the his first (half) season + the AHL, I would say he is.

But not as hard as when he compared Sam Gagner to Doug Gilmour...I peed myself...and it wasn't planned.

It really is time that Oiler fans took a step back and took a close look at what they actually have before thinking they can trade their chaff for actual NHL players.

Schultz is a decent offensive defenseman who doesn't have a clue in his own end.

Anyone who can't see that isn't paying attention.

Winning an AHL award is great and all but bear in mind that Jason Krog was an absolute AHL stud and there are numerous other examples of players who could excel at that level but failed when the rubber hit the road.

Schultz may well figure things out but until, or if, he does, he's a smaller, weaker Jack Johnson.

There is no evidence to the contrary.

None.

There is no definitive evidence to say Schultz will become a great defenseman in his own zone. But there is no difinitive evidence against it either. Called small sample size. To early to tell.

Schultz has done well being a first year pro , and looks good going forward . With Klefbom expected to make roster next season do we really need more draft picks to develop for now ? We have enough now to try and develop . Unless we win lottery , I expect they might trade that pick in some manner . We need players to surround our youth with already , not more youth at this stage .

Have some fun and play GM revamping core outside the present failing one , for that looks like the way we intend to go . Leave the AHL players in AHL to develop another year

We'll probably draft 7-8th , and I would not mind going up to 20-30 if it helps get a major piece to play for us now . How important is our low first round pick in the grand scheme of things as they are now, if he can not make an immediate impact ?

I'm fine with that. Tyler Myers looked like a stud his first season. Then the wheels came off. But who knows maybe he'll get back on track. We just don't know until we know. But I'm a koolaid drinking rose colored glasses Oilers fan so next september I'll probably be predicting Schultz wins the Norris. And if he doesn't? Doesn't bother me. Go Oilers!

Schultz has done well being a first year pro , and looks good going forward . With Klefbom expected to make roster next season do we really need more draft picks to develop for now ? We have enough now to try and develop . Unless we win lottery , I expect they might trade that pick in some manner . We need players to surround our youth with already , not more youth at this stage .

Have some fun and play GM revamping core outside the present failing one , for that looks like the way we intend to go . Leave the AHL players in AHL to develop another year

We'll probably draft 7-8th , and I would not mind going up to 20-30 if it helps get a major piece to play for us now . How important is our low first round pick in the grand scheme of things as they are now, if he can not make an immediate impact ?

I would look to trade klefbom for a dman a year or two older that is ready for the nhl. Klefbom likely needs a year or two of ahl seasoning.

I also wouldn't trade our first this year. Good chance to get a high end centre or dman. I'm personally not a fan of trading firsts at all (unless you're packaging it and getting a star). It's good to have the cupboards full with top end prospects developing especially with prospects like pitlick and Hamilton looking unlikely to be impact players in the nhl.

If I'm the Oilers GM I trade Eberle for a stud defenseman. Or the Gagner + Paajarvi + first round pick or whatever the heck the trade would be. Bottom line is our defense is WEAK. Until we improve the back end it will be hard for this team to move forward. If we could add a top pairing defenseman, and then add a puck mover like Ryan Ellis while ditching Whitney and Nick Schultz, then our team would do a lot better.

You realize there is also an even chance that he has the hockey IQ of Cam Barker, right?

I think he's demonstrated a greater capacity than Barker, however that's not a great benchmark. He has good offensive instincts and needs to improve defensively, which from experience is easier to do than the opposite of having good defensive instincts and trying to add offence.

At this point, it is fair to say that the Oilers were given a gift when they were able to sign him, and he can contribute to a winning team even if he hasn't had the opportunity to prove that. For me, he falls in to the Hall, RNH, Eberle, and Yak category of guys you would have to completely overpay to take away from us.